Yahoo is very interested in Hulu. One source close to the company says the board is "not there yet," and might torpedo a deal. Another source says Yahoo cofounder and influential board member Jerry Yang is "neutral to positive" on the deal.

Apple was one of the dozen or so companies that initially took a look at Hulu, but it did not move into the latest round of bidding.

There remains a chance that News Corp and Disney will decide not to sell Hulu. (Comcast is also an owner, but it has no vote.)

"These things are hard to come by," says a source, who points out that "traditional media companies" like News Corp and Disney are "oh-for-lifetime" when it comes to building successful new media properties like Hulu.

The reason Disney and News Corp would sell, meanwhile, has less to do with getting a pile of cash up front and more to do with selling Hulu to a company that put resources into making it a long-term viable competitor to Netflix – and thereby drive up online licensing fees.